Eclectic mix of things to do Down Under, even when it's cool

"It will be hot in Australia!" warned our friends and neighbours. My husband René, admittedly cold blooded, looked forward to the prospect with glee. I, on the other hand, resigned myself to the idea that being hot was a small price to pay for such an adventure. Little did we know!

Landing in Sydney early on October 17, 2001, an azure sky and shorts-and-sandals temperature greeted us. We quickly changed to summer garb and set out from the hotel for our first walk "Down Under." It was a glorious day.

The next morning, a look out the window showed us passersby buffeted by a strong wind, and a voice on our transistor radio announced, in a wonderful Australian drawl, very un-summery temperatures. So, it was back to long pants and sturdy shoes, but only temporarily, we were sure.

A few days later we headed to Canberra, this time harbouring no illusions. Heeding the weather forecast for frost in Australia's capital, we layered our summer clothes: T-shirt plus shirt plus windbreaker, with plastic poncho in backpack, just in case. We never did see frost, but our sightseeing was done under very cool and often rainy conditions.

Next, south to Melbourne. Heading south in Australia gets you closer to Antarctica, and once, as we waited for a tram, the wind felt like it was coming straight from that ice-bound continent.

The next stage of our vacation was a three-and-one-half day tour of the Great Ocean Road, 1,200 kilometres along the coast between Melbourne and Adelaide. The scenery was magnificent. As for the wind, we consoled ourselves, saying that it was in thanks for the roaring breakers which added such wildness to the spectacle.

During our short stay in Adelaide, we had frequent doses of rain, although the mercury did begin moving northward again. Climbing aboard The Ghan, the famous train that connects Adelaide with Alice Springs, even I hoped that the Red Centre would live up to its reputation so we could finally warm up.

It did! We almost gasped as we stepped off the train into an oven. At our motel room, my first gesture was to press the air conditioner's "on" switch. By the end of our four days in "the Alice," René was turning brown, and I was beginning to acclimatize. It was the intensity of direct sunlight that bothered me. So, as long as there was shade to take refuge in, ... .

In Darwin, there was no refuge. Well, not outside our motel, restaurants, and shopping centres, anyway. We were in Australia's northernmost city at the beginning of the "Wet," after all, and it was like living in a sauna, but with no freezing lake to jump into afterwards. One sunny afternoon the radio announced 36 degrees with humidity at 86 per cent.

Much as we liked the city of Darwin, I could hardly wait to return to drier conditions. We found these during our long bus trip through the Outback to Townsville. On the tropical Queensland coast, though, we were back to the heat and humidity. But, after Darwin, anything seemed less intense.

Our four days in Brisbane were days in Paradise. Except for a morning thundershower, we were treated to the best weather yet: warm and dry. René commented, only half joking, that if he had known about Brisbane before emigrating from France, maybe he would now be calling Australia home.

Returning to Sydney, we discovered that in our five-week absence summer had arrived and with it the sunshine and warmth we had expected to find from the beginning.

On November 28, we were Vancouver-bound. Our luggage was jammed with souvenirs and gifts, and our heads were full of the wonders we had seen.

Hot, Australia? This question will now get the same reply we give our friends in Europe who say, "It's so cold in Canada!" Yes, but not everywhere, and not all the time.

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